News

Graduate Student Paper on Insect Herbivory
and Climate Change Creates Media Buzz

Ellen Currano, a Ph.D. candidate in the geosciences department, is the lead author of a high-profile paper, “Sharply Increased Insect Herbivory during the PaleoceneEocene Thermal Maximum,” just out in /Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)/.

The paper has been the focus of reports in media including BBC Radio, National Geographic News, MSNBC, livescience.com and the Independent (UK). In addition, PNAS has featured the article with a “Commentary” piece.

Currano’s research has clear implications for the response of modern ecosystems to current global. The results came from her intensive paleobotanical field work in the Bighorn Basin and her lab work at Penn State and the Smithsonian.